NEARLY 300 workers at a Cambuslang factory walked out on Monday over a pay dispute with their bosses.

Members of the UK’s biggest trade union - Unite - at the Vion base in Westburn Road took the drastic step after failing to agree terms in talks with the company.

Workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action after being offered a two per cent pay increase and some improvements to their holiday conditions.

Over 90 per cent of Unite members backed the action, and on Monday morning, despite poor weather, over 80 workers turned up on the picket line.

They are set to follow Monday’s action with similar walkouts over the next 12 weeks and will deliberately target key production periods.

The workers say a two per cent increase is effectively a pay cut and follows a similar rise last year and a rise the previous year in line with inflation at five per cent.

The union say Vion tripled their profits in 2010/11 and posted a turnover of 88.9billion.

Unite convenor at the Cambuslang factory, Scot Walker, said although the holiday improvements were “welcome the workers felt the two per cent pay offer was not enough in the current financial climate.

He said: “This is a pay cut and comes on the back of two per cent last year, which was reluctantly accepted, and five per cent the year before, which was essentially a pay freeze.

“The workers have said that this can’t happen anymore. This is the first in a series of actions over the next 12 weeks.

“The union were asked to attend a meeting with ACAS and we hoped the company would come back with an improved offer.

“But ACAS said Vion were not prepared to move at all. It was a complete waste of our time.

“This is not a poor company we are talking about. The members have a very hardened attitude. They understand this could be a long and protracted dispute.”

Scot also denied the workers would come under fire for striking at a time when many employees face pay freezes.

“We’ve not had much interaction with the public yet but my view as a trade unionist is I would always support workers in their struggle when they have democratically chosen this option,” he said.

Monday marked the first time in seven years workers at the Vion site had taken to the picket lines.

A Unite spokesman said the door was still open for an agreement to be reached and added: “The average wage at Cambuslang is approx £7 per hour. It’s not intensive wages but it is intensive labour and the workers deserve to be fairly rewarded for their labour.

“We had hoped the company would see sense and come up with an improved offer but they have dug their heels in.

“The door remains open for them but if they don't grasp the opportunity then there will be an escalation of the dispute.”

Vion is a Dutch-based food firm. It employs 12,500 workers across 40 sites in the UK as well as almost 27,000 workers across the globe. It is currently the world’s fourth largest meat processor.

A spokesman for the company said: “As part of annual wage negotiations at its Cambuslang operation, Vion presented proposals to the Unite trade union.

“These proposals were rejected by the union and members were balloted where they voted for industrial action in the form of a one day (24-hour) strike on Monday, February 20, 2012, a work to rule and a ban on overtime.

“Vion is disappointed with the decision as the company has presented a very fair and reasonable proposal, especially given the current challenging economic climate.

“Vion has taken appropriate steps to ensure a continuity of service to those customers supplied by the Cambuslang operation.”